<006. Welcome to the Buffet>
"Credit…?"
"I'll repay you a hundred times over when I'm a famous soccer player! Please? Hehe."
"Ho, Ho Yung! Where did you even learn that word..!"
Hi Sun was clearly flustered by her son's sudden request. Sang Un stopped her.
"No, that's okay, Ms! I actually like his confidence actually. Haha! If he's truly aspiring to be a soccer star, this is how he should do it!"
Sang Un lowered his posture to look at Ho Yung in the eyes.
"Ho Yung, you just did a big favour for your parents, didn't you?"
"Hehe. Thank you!"
"Why don't we make a promise? Ho Yung, you're going to try your very best."
"Of course!"
"Great, I like that."
Sang Un looked at Hi Sun again.
"Ms, our academy has a 'gifted' policy."
"The gifted?"
"Yes. It's a policy for exceptional children such as Ho Yung. Think of it as a scholarship."
Of course, not anyone could just become a scholarship kid as there was a clear limit on how many children could be selected.
But.
"We actually have a place open right now. I'll really recommend him as much as I can to the Director."
"Ah… Well if that's the case, we're just grateful."
"No worries at all."
Sang Un did not stop there and delved deep into Ho Yung's future.
"To become a global soccer player, there is a limit as to what you can do in just Korea. Especially nowadays, training overseas is a must. That's why I'm telling you this…"
International training, youth teams of professional leagues, et cetera.
He added on that the academy could offer Ho Yung the most elite course.
If Ho Yung showed that much growth.
So, it was a course dependent on criteria.
"So, does this sound good for you? Ho Yung, would you like to learn soccer at an academy? Kick around with some kids who can play well."
"Yes! I want to!"
"Alright, let's do it. Well then, Ma'am. Would you like to come with Ho Yung for an entrance test tomorrow?"
"Yes. Of course."
The deal had been made. Win-wins all around.
There was bound to be amazing publicity if Ho Yung just enrolled for Bum Gon Cha Academy, so there was no doubt that they would pick him for special entrance.
Everything was going according to Ho Yung's plan.
'All I have to do now is play soccer with no worries.'
Professionally learning soccer!
He calmed his swelling chest and bowed deeply.
"I'll do my best, Coach~!"
Sang Un smiled involuntarily at the elementary schooler's cute bow. In him, a desire to grow Ho Yung into a phenomenal soccer player was blooming.
The way home back from shooting.
Ho Yung looked around, feeling dissatisfied.
'How is there no one with talent at all?'
It was a renowned academy - Bum Gon Cha! - yet there were no children whose abilities were worth desiring. There was only this.
[Ki Hun Kim]
Skills Possessed
Soccer smarts (C+)
(You cannot desire a skill lower than your own.)
'I guess soccer prodigy was a big skill.'
He felt that Jung Ho Yun was quite respectable.
'I guess he was called the Ju Hyung Park of this generation.'
There really was no kid worth stealing talents from. There was the skill 'Intuition spotting players' but he didn't really need that.
'I hope there's someone with good talents at the academy tomorrow.'
That night.
"You met with Sang Un Lee? Oh, I should've used a vacation day and went myself! Ugh!"
The person who reacted most explosively to this news was Ho Yung's dad.
The disappointment of not meeting Sang Un Lee was not as big as the joy he held for his son, however.
"Hahaahah! My son is the best!"
Hwang Sun suddenly picked up the household phone.
"Hello? Dominos? Can I get the one that you guys are promoting on TV right now? Yes, yes. The biggest you got. Our eldest son got into Bum Gon Cha Soccer Academy. Ah, the address? Yes, haha. Look at me."
Pizza!
At this time, pizza was a rare food that you could only eat once in a while. It wasn't that he could never eat it, but it only was served on special occasions like birthdays.
The pizza that Tae Hyun Cha advertised on TV was delivered to his home.
"Ah, the smell! I love it! Honey, come here!"
"I'll be there soon~"
"My son! Eat as much as you'd like."
"Thank you!"
Ho Yung's eyes lit up.
When he was young, he always craved pizza but he never could bring himself to ask for it.
Intelligent children know everything they need to know even if they're young. They figure it out. But in this life, there was less need to tiptoe around and figure out the family situation.
'I'll succeed and repay you both.'
Ho Yung lifted up a slice in celebration of getting the first step right.
'Wow, how is this so good?'
Maybe his taste buds have also gone back in time. Or maybe the nostalgia for old-style pizza had fuelled his appetite.
Ho Yung's mouth and hands did not stop for one second.
"You really like it that much, son?"
"Yes, it's so good. Dad, you're the best. Also you, Mum."
9 days later.
Shoot aired for the first time on MBS.
Fresh. Laughter. Emotion.
On top of that, the pure cuteness of the children made this show a hit.
Thanks to this, the Happy Sunday corner garnered 11.1% of all TV viewers, rising from 0.6. Other than this, there were two other pieces of good news greeting Ho Yung.
"Congratulations son!"
"Huh?"
"Coach Sang Un just called me!"
That was the moment that he got confirmed as a gifted student in the best academy of the nation. Hi Sun could not contain her excitement as she exited her room bearing different news.
"Honey! Honey! This is amazing!"
"Why, what happened?"
"Our Ho Yung…"
"Ho Yung?"
"He has a fan club!"
"Wow! Let me see!"
Hwang Sun and Ho Yung both shifted their gaze at the monitor. Within a day of Shoot airing, he had his very own fan club with over 200 members.
'200 members…'
On top of that, the fan club was in the spotlight out of all the internet communities. There were comments saying that he was a shooting star ready to follow in the footsteps of Ji Suk Park, who was scheduled to enter Eindhoven next year.
Of course, they were not all positive comments.
[Author: GetRich]
Did everyone see the 10-year-old from Shoot today?
I got goosebumps watching it with my family at dinner haha
We could win the world cup in 10 years ahah
Chill out… Even I could score 10 goals easy
What did you do in 3rd grade? Pick your nose?
Petty debates were unfolding.
At this current time, Korea was building up expectations and hopes in soccer - it was heading to the peak of patriotism in the sport.
'2002 really was the hay day'
After this, there were a lot of European players but Korean soccer would steadily decline in quality. It really got tragic after the 2010 World Cup.
Maybe that's why, but the country had always wanted the appearance of a miraculous hero.
'So this is what it feels like. Attention.'
Whether they were good words or not, he just liked this moment.
However.
Hwang Sun, who had been skimming through articles, suddenly closed the internet tabs.
He had stumbled across comments insulting Ho Yung.
They belittled him to a project made by the PD.
That Ho Yung Wu was actually the son of a rich family that had paid out the MBS.
These groundless insults reddened Hwang Sun's face.
"Those… those...."
He couldn't bring himself to swear in front of his young son and attempted to control his anger.
Hi Sun spoke in a calm, logical voice.
"Honey, don't read those. People are just jealous of Ho Yung. Isn't that right, Ho Yung?"
"Yeah, I actually like it."
"Huh? Why?"
"Because people are just envious of me."
"What? Ahahaha! Yes. Son, you're right."
Ho Yung did not mind at all.
'This is nothing!'
Fame and horrible comments always came together. Criticism could never be avoided as a sportsperson.
Ho Yung just accepted it. He did not want to tire himself out with everyone's words. Actually, he was enjoying it a little.
'Huh, that one's a bit harsh.'
[Author: PowerBro]
It was the first game so the academy kids probably went easy on them. When they go against an international team they'll not score a single goal. I bet everything on it.
It provoked Ho Yung's competitive side.
Ho Yung always swore to flatten every hater's ego.
Next day.
Ho Yung gulped. He was at the Bum Gon Cha Academy for an entrance test.
'Wow. This is a buffet.'
[Soccer Smarts (C)]
[Impressive Free Kick (C-)]
[Stronger Shoot than Pass (D)]
[An Outsider's Side Tackle (C+)]
All the talented kids came into my view. The time had come to pick the fourth talent!